Biography

Luis Sanz

Luis Sanz is a young talented cuatro player, composer, arranger and musical director of Hermanos Sanz. He began playing the Puerto Rican cuatro at the age of four. As a young boy, Luis displayed a great interest in the folkloric music of Puerto Rico and a talent to perform this music on the cuatro. At the age of nine, he was selected to participate as a soloist in concerts of the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maestro Roselín Pabón. At the same age, he started to record his first album, “Un legado para la historia” with the Legacy Musical Ensemble. Luis’ creative development and talent in improvisation brought him to arranging and composing works for orchestra, jazz bands and ensembles for the “Salsa” genres. Luis is the first cuatro player who decided to study the classical repertoire and made a new Cuatro concerto named “Fantasía para cuatro y orquesta” conducted by Roselín Pabón and premiered in 2015. Just this year, Luis headlined the Latin Grammy Award show with Residente, and collaborated with Lin-Manuel Miranda on music for a new film about Puerto Rican culture. Recently, was honored as ambassador of the Puerto Rican cuatro for the National Puerto Rican Day Parade of New York.

He garnered much recognition including first award for the competition of young “cuatristas” of Puerto Rican Culture Institute (2010), two special recognition from the Puerto Rican House of Representatives (2005 & 2014), granted scholarship for a bachelor degree at Inter-American University of Puerto Rico (2012), commission work by “Asociación de Padres y Amigos Orquestas Secundarias y Superiores inc.” (APAOSS) (2015), First Prize GladeTM composition competition (2015), dedication of “46th Festival del Cuatro Puertorriqueño” (2016), Chicago’s Puerto Rican Arts Alliance recognition for outstanding contribution in the cuatro instrument (2016), and many others.

Luis and his sister Lisvette founded the musical group Hermanos Sanz in 2006. Together, they have performed and conducted workshops in France, Spain, Corsica, Cuba and in the United States. Also, they have produced two recording albums: “Marcando La Historia” (2009) & “Ponte en pie” (2014) & participated more than 600 in cultural, educational, religious and social events. Also, television and radio broadcast participation. Luis has been collaborating in different recording and events with important artists as Ednita Nazario, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Bernie Williams, Victor Manuelle, Elvis Crespo, José Nogueras, Luisito Carrión, Danny Rivera, Roy Brown, Hermes Croatto, Residente Calle 13 (René Perez), El Gran Combo de PR, Lucecita Benítez, Lin-Manuel Miranda and others. Since the age of 14, he started teaching at the Academia de Música Presbiteriana Westminster, Inc. in Bayamon, PR. He taught music theory and instruments like: the “cuatro”, popular guitar, “tiple”, “tres cubano” and bass.

The String Master, UNCSA grad student Luis Sanz has risen to international fame with an instrument few Americans have heard. – Winston Salem Magazine

Luis Sanz earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Composition at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music with his mentor Alfonso Fuentes. At the same time, he earned a Bachelor degree at Inter-American University of Puerto Rico in Bass performance with the professor Samuel Morales, with a minor in Education. Currently, Luis is in his first Master’s degree year in Composition at The University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston Salem with the Professor Dr. Lawrence Dillon.